


Maybe Birthdays Aren't So Bad After All

by Spideyfan62



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Birthdays, F/M, Fluff, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Slice of Life, Spideychelle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spideyfan62/pseuds/Spideyfan62
Summary: M.J. slammed her book closed and set it down on the table, all her thoughts catching up to her and preventing her from focusing on reading. She ran her hands against her forehead and through her hair before sitting back up again. She was tired of being stuck in this same old birthday routine; she was going to do something different. It might not necessarily be something special, but it would at least be a change of pace than her usual. M.J. pulled her phone out and began sifting through her contacts, looking for who she might invite to hang out with her today, finally stopping at one name in particular: Peter Parker.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Comments: 9
Kudos: 39





	Maybe Birthdays Aren't So Bad After All

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, just a little AU where Peter and M.J. spend her birthday together and she realizes that birthdays can be a good thing after all.

M.J. sat at her isolated corner table, desperately trying to actually enjoy her book and her Chai tea. Normally, she'd be all in on a peaceful day like this where she was just sipping tea while reading at a local coffee shop. Today, however, was no different. 

Today was M.J.'s birthday. 

Usually, birthdays hadn't particularly mattered to her. She grew up with both her parents working full time jobs, so they were never around. She didn't have many friends either, so that left her to find solace in all her favorite books about murders, conspiracy theories or civil rights activists. She had grown comfortable and accustomed to this way of things, never really expecting anything different. Then, of course, there was this crazy thing that people were for some reason calling "the blip," where some know-it-all alien wack job decided to take the lives of trillions into his own hands and erased them all from existence, including M.J.'s. Five years later, the Avengers managed to bring everybody back, though not without heavy costs involved. 

After she came back, a lot of things seemed to hit M.J. about how her life was, but one thing hit hardest of all: she was lonely. She had suppressed those thoughts and feelings for as long as she could, but when it settled in her mind that her life had been stolen from her and then given a second chance, she wanted things to be different. Her parents had both blipped (seriously, who thought of that?) as well, so she thought that surely they would at least come together as a family, finally. Instead, however, her parents both ran to what was familiar: work. It took a month or so, but with their credentials there was no way her parents weren't going to get jobs in their respective fields, and things were back to the way they were. 

In a sense, M.J. understood to some degree why they did this: they needed something familiar, something that would allow them to regain some semblance of normalcy. Maybe that was also why M.J. had actually been excited to go back to school again. Despite the fact that she had already made it halfway through junior year at the time of the blip, the school had made her and all her returning classmates begin the whole year over from the beginning, but she didn't really care. It would be something normal. 

However, M.J. was also determined to be different from her parents. She didn't expect to magically become the life of a party all of a sudden, but she was going to at least make an effort to reach out to people and at least TRY and make some kind of relationships with her classmates. However, as she settled in the routine of the school year once again, she found herself falling back in it as well. Whether it was reading a book two tables away from Peter and Ned instead of actually conversing with them, ignoring the typical gossip style conversations of many of the girls of her class, or just downright being a snarky, sarcastic loner whose comments made people give her weird glances, she fell exactly into who she was before. 

And now, here she was, on her 17th birthday, sitting all alone, just like all the others. She had actually set a goal for herself at the beginning of the school year that she would hangout with at least one friend on her birthday, and she couldn't even manage that. 

M.J. slammed her book closed and set it down on the table, all her thoughts catching up to her and preventing her from focusing on reading. She ran her hands against her forehead and through her hair before sitting back up again. She was tired of being stuck in this same old birthday routine; she was going to do something different. It might not necessarily be something special, but it would at least be a change of pace than her usual. M.J. pulled her phone out and began sifting through her contacts, looking for who she might invite to hang out with her today, finally stopping at one name in particular: Peter Parker. 

Peter: he had been the one person who had actually made a real effort to reach out to her this past school year. Sometimes it was catching her in the hallway, running into her after school, talking to her in between periods, etc, but he was one of the few people that she could honestly say she had multiple conversations, like, actual, multi-sentence conversations with this past year. Then, of course, there was the fact that she had had a crush on the dork since freshman year. She had denied it to herself forever,always finding some excuse for why she found herself frequently observing him, but she eventually gave up denying it. 

That was probably why she was just hovering her finger over his number in her phone, paralyzed. Even though they had talked some, they had never texted before. His number was only even in there due to them being on Academic Decathlon together, and she needed everybody's name and number as the captain. M.J. knew deep down that she was being ridiculous; they were friends, right? Well, maybe decent acquaintances? 

Finally, she tapped his name and thought about what to say in her initial message. Why was she overthinking this? 

"Just ask, just ask him," she repeated to herself in her head. 

"Hey," was all that ended up getting sent. She sat her phone on her table and waited for a moment, taking a good, long sip of her tea. M.J. was actually a little surprised when her phone buzzed again less than two minutes later (she definitely WAS NOT counting, by the way), picking it up to see his response. 

"Hey. I'm glad you texted, because I almost forgot: Happy birthday, M.J. :)" 

A sudden surge of emotion ran through M.J.'s body, so much so that she almost thought she felt tears well up in her eyes. That sappy, sweet dork actually remembered today was her birthday? For a solid thirty seconds or so, she just sat there, frozen, the full weight of the fact that Peter Parker REMEMBERED HER BIRTHDAY washing over her. Then, she remembered that she had unfinished business. 

M.J. took a breath, before typing and sending her response: 

"Thanks dork. You wouldn't want to, I don't know, come hangout at the coffee shop over on third street, would you?" 

As soon as she hit send, she instantly wished she could take it back, not because she actually went through with inviting him, but because she hated how it sounded. M.J. looked back over it, the full weight of just how awkward it sounded hit her like a tidal wave. She chastised herself internally for just letting her fingers fly as the words came directly from her mind, which for some reason apparently didn't remember that she wasn't actually asking him in person, which was much more terrifying. 

M.J. slammed her face down into her arms that were resting on the table, letting out a moan. Why was she like this? 

Her head popped up when her phone dinged, almost dreading what Peter's response might be.

"You mean, like, just you and me?" 

Before she could second guess herself, M.J. typed out another response. 

"Yep." At least this one was short, straight and to the point, but as she waited, she still found herself thinking about how he could've meant his last text. Was it a deal breaker that she was by herself, and it would be just the two of them? Did he not care to be seen in public with her? 

Another ding on her phone brought her back to reality. 

"Sounds fun. Be there in about 10 minutes." 

No way. NO WAY. Peter Parker had actually agreed to hang out with her for her birthday? M.J. quickly forced her thoughts to calm down, realizing she was beginning to think like some giddy school girl, which she most definitely was not. Still, she allowed herself just the smallest excitement. 

However, once those 10 minutes went by and Peter still wasn't there, her enthusiasm died down a bit. Maybe he was just running late?

15 minutes went by, and she was really starting to get nervous. 

By the time 30 minute had passed, she had all but given up. The only thing keeping her hope alive was a particular suspicion she had about Peter: he was Spider-Man. She wasn't exactly sure how positive she was of this, as one day something would happen to strengthen that belief, then the next day would make her dial it back a bit. still, she allowed herself to entertain the thought of the fact that he was out protecting people as Spider-Man. She was just about to look on her phone to see if there were nay news sightings of Spider-Man in the area, when none other than one Peter Parker came running up to her. 

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Peter apologized frantically. "I actually, uh, got lost on my way here." 

M.J. wasn't too amused by this, but she still had to admit that she was happy he was finally here. She noticed he was wearing one of his famous science pun t-shirts, which read "If you believe in telekinesis, please raise my hand," on it, with a jacket over it. It was so dorky, so weird, but also so Peter Parker. 

"I guess I'll forgive you....this time," M.J. in a bit of a hard tone, and Peter's eyes instantly shifted away from hers, looking towards the floor. He looked like a little puppy that was being scolded for something he didn't even know was wrong. 

"Hey, Peter," she said, getting up and taking a couple of steps towards him, trying to ignore the growing nervous feeling in her mind and stomach as she did. "It's fine, really. These things happen." Peter seemed to let out a sigh of relief at her words, and they both sat down at the table she had been occupying. 

"I'm sorry I didn't come bearing a gift, or at least a card or something," Peter said. "It almost feels like I'm doing this whole thing all wrong."

"Well, there is one thing you can give me," M.J. commented. 

"Yeah?" Peter said. He looked a little nervous as he spoke, though not quite as much as before. 

"You can give me a day where you don't apologize to me anymore," she said, offering him a teasing smile. 

"I'll try my best, but no promises," he replied. Was he actually messing with her? 

"Try really, really hard," M.J. said, not one to let even the faintest amount of sarcasm or teasing go by unchallenged. "Your life depends on it." 

"Oh really?" Peter said, and now the look on his face was definitely him messing with her, challenging her. 

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," M.J. said, trying to put on her most intimidating face. 

"I'm sure you're right," Peter replied, offering her a grin that was much less smug than before. As he did, M.J. couldn't help but notice how natural a smile seemed to fit his face. It made his cheeks poke out ever so slightly, and it was the cutest thing...okay stop, stop right now. 

After this, they settled into some peaceful conversation, which felt really nice to M.J. She had been a little worried that Peter might show up and leave less than 30 minutes later due to not really having a good time. Instead, they talked for over two hours before they realized that it was 1:30 in the afternoon and they were both starving. 

"Are you as hungry as I am?" she asked him.

"Probably even more so?" Peter replied. 

"Like I said," M.J. retorted, "you don't know what I'm capable of. I know I don't look it, but I can put down a good pizza. Vegetarian, of course." M.J. then realized that this was the first time she had specifically mentioned to Peter that she was vegetarian. Instantly, she felt herself warm up as she became nervous; what if that was weird to him for some reason? It certainly didn't help that, with her reputation, he would probably think that she was that way because she was some crazy person who tried to force her thoughts on the matter to people. 

"That's cool," Peter replied. "I think there's actually a place just down the street that does half one half something else, so that might work out perfect." 

Okay, why was it that everything Peter seemed to say just stoked her feelings for him like a metal poker to a fire? M.J. couldn't hold back the smile formed across her face as she responded: 

"Yeah, I'd like that." 

An hour and one half cheese half vegetarian pizza later, M.J. and Peter found themselves trying to figure out what to do next. It was actually decently cool for June, so she suggested they go walk around Central Park and enjoy some fresh air. Peter offered no objection, so they set out for the large area that contained most of the green in Manhattan. Once there, they settled into a comfortable stroll for a while, but after a while, M.J. observed a change in Peter's body language. It was subtle at first, like how he didn't make eye contact with her quite as much or started looking down some. A little later, it started becoming more obvious, like how he kept fiddling with his hands and something in his eyes seemed to indicate something was on his mind. 

At this point, M.J.'s own mind began to wonder as well. Was Peter trying to think of an excuse to leave? That didn't make sense to her, because they had seemed to be having a good time, but what if she had read him wrong? Thankfully, Peter's voice cut through her thoughts, finally ending the period of prolonged silence. 

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. 

"Hey," she said a little more forcefully than she intended, dialing her voice back as she continued, "is everything okay?" 

Peter didn't seem too shaken by her initial tone, coolly replying: "yeah, just thinking." 

"Well, it's rude to think too much in the company of someone else," she replied. What had gotten into her? How many times had she been lost in thought while around literally everyone. 

"I know you said for me to to apologize anymore," Peter said, "but I am sorry. You're right." 

"No, I'm sorry Peter," she said, abruptly stopping along the path they were walking. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded that day, so nobody really had to walk around them. 

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Peter asked, giving her a confused look. 

"It's just..." M.J. paused as she considered her next words. How much should she say? If she wasn't careful, if she said too much, she could ruin what little of a friendship she had with Peter, right here, in this moment. At the same time, something in Peter's eyes gave her a level of reassurance; a confidence that she could be open with him, so she carefully proceeded into the weird land of emotional vulnerability. 

"It's just that, I've really enjoyed today, you know?" M.J. stammered. "Most birthdays, I'm just alone reading or watching a murder documentary, but this, this has actually been really fun." 

"It's been fun for me too," Peter replied. M.J.'s eyes met his as he spoke, and she could see that his response was no lie. "I actually feel like I've, I don't know, gotten to know you a little bit today, if that makes sense." 

"And...and that hasn't bothered you?" M.J. asked nervously. 

"Why would it?" Peter said, again giving her a questioning look coupled with a smile. 

"I just feel like I've talked your head off all day about murder mystery trivia, civil rights history and other random stuff," M.J. replied, beginning to let it out. "I just know that that kind of thing might weird some people out." 

"M.J, trust me," Peter said, "you have no idea how much it really takes to weird me out. You're not even close, honestly." 

M.J. smiled at his response. "Thanks Peter," she replied. "I know my coping mechanisms are a little...unorthodox."

"Coping mechanisms?" Peter asked. 

"Um, did I say that?" M.J. asked, wishing she could take her words back. Why did she say that, anyway? 

"You did, but it's okay," Peter assured her. "You don't have to go into detail if you don't want to." 

Well great, now the dork had given her an out, but at the same time, she found herself wanting to tell him more. She wanted to share about how her parents never were around, or how when they were, they hardly spoke to each other, and so many other things. But should she? Were they really at that point in their friendship where they could share that stuff? 

"No," M.J. stammered nervously, trying to speak up before she second guessed herself. "I want to." 

So she told him everything: about the distance between her parents, how they only seemed to care about her grades, how she just couldn't wait to get to college and really begin the path towards making a difference in society, how she was bullied when she was younger for her strange interests, etc. She didn't mean to, but next thing she knew, it was all out there. To her surprise, Peter never once seemed to lose interest; rather, he appeared to be listening intently, leaning in on every word she said as they walked, like he was trying to memorize every detail. 

"Wow," Peter said after M.J. had spent the last hour and a half laying it all out there. "I had had no idea how strong you were." 

This caught M.J. off guard. "Strong?" she questioned. 

"Yeah," Peter said. "You've been through so much, but you still go on trying to make the best of yourself. I wish I was like that."

"What do you mean?" M.J. asked. 

Peter stopped abruptly at her question, and she swore she could've heard him mutter "oh boy," as he looked up to the sky for a moment. When he looked at her, she could see the same conflicting thoughts and emotions in his eyes as had gone through hers earlier. She instantly started trying to formulate the words to reassure him that he could be honest and open with her; that there was nothing on earth she would judge him or think less of him for. 

"It's okay," she settled on. "Just know that, whatever it is, you can tell me." 

Peter nodded, but said nothing in response, which didn't really reassure her too much. They started walking again, this time in silence. M.J. glanced over towards Peter repeatedly; he looked as if he were at war with himself. Whatever had been on his mind since they got to the park, it was clearly gnawing at him from the inside out. After a while, he stopped again, causing her to stop as well. He looked around, like he was making sure nobody could overhear what he was about to say. 

"I'm Spider-Man," he said in a hushed voice. 

M.J.'s mind froze for a good five seconds afterwards; when her brain managed to restart again, it finally hit her wavering suspicion had been right all along. 

"I knew it," she muttered. When she met Peter's eyes again, they were giving the most incredulous look. 

"Wait, you KNEW??" he asked. 

"Peter, come on," M.J. replied. "Washington? Your frequent disappearances for no real reason? Your inconsistent answers about why you were gone?" 

Peter's face fell in response to this. "You think anyone else knows?" he muttered sheepishly. 

"No," M.J. said, trying to sound a lot more reassuring that she had been a moment ago. "I mean, probably not. People don't seem to pay attention to you very much." 

"Ouch," Peter said, seemingly a little offended. Wow, smooth M.J, smooth. 

"Except for me, I guess," M.J. stammered out. A small smile returned to Peter's face. 

"Thanks," he replied. 

"Anyway, I still have a lot of questions," she said. 

"I'll bet," Peter replied, so they continued walking, and now it was Peter's turn to tell all: about how he'd been bitten during their trip freshman year to ESU by one of their experimental spider species, how he woke up the next day with his powers, how his inaction had cost the life of his Uncle Ben, how he'd been involved in the great battle of earth with the Avengers and watched Tony Stark sacrifice himself, etc." 

"Wow, and you said I was strong," M.J. blurted out. 

"I'm not strong M.J," Peter insisted. 

"Yes you are," she reiterated. 

"No, I'm not," he reiterated right back. "M.J, my life is a story of loss and mistakes. I try my best to move on, but I'm always wondering if it's good enough."

"I don't think any of us are good enough," M.J. responded, "but the fact that you persist on in spite of those things and still go out there every day and try to help people...that takes strength, for sure. I guess that's just life in a nutshell: learning from mistakes and loss and going on anyway." 

Peter stopped in his tracks and just stared at her for a moment. "I had no idea you were so wise either," he said. 

"Oh, I have my moments from time to time," she replied, holding her head high and looking down to him. Peter simply chuckled and shook his head in response. 

They kept walking for a while, before it finally came to dinner time. After getting some Italian, it was getting dark, and Peter insisted that they he get her one a cupcake and a candle for her to blow out before they parted ways for the day. After some insisting on his part, she finally gave in, and so they got everything necessary for it. After acquiring everything, Peter took a her to a nearby rooftop, where he brought her up with him. They made their way to the center of the roof, where M.J. stood there as Peter put the candle on and lit it up. 

"Make a wish," he said, holding it out to her. 

M.J. started to blow, but then she hesitated. There was just one more thing that she wanted out of today. It felt like her and Peter had gotten to know each other so well that day that the thought that entered her mind terrified her. What if it was pushing things to far? What if he didn't feel the same way she did? At the same time, should she just roll with it since everything else had gone so right today? 

"Well?" Peter said, "everything okay?" 

Acting before she second guessed herself again, M.J. pulled Peter's hands down with her own, closed the distance between them and gave them a quick peck on the lips with her own before immediately pulling away. Peter'e eyes were wide with shock, but nothing else was discernible in his expression.

"I just figured why wish for what I wanted when it was right in front of me, you know?" M.J. stammered awkwardly before recomposing herself a little. "Much more convenient that way." 

Peter just smiled at her, and the next words he blurted out to her officially put her over the moon for the day. 

"I really like you."

"I really like you too," she replied. 

Next thing they knew, they had closed the distance again, with Peter meeting her in the middle this time. She rested her hand on his left cheek as their lips connected again, and, more than anything else, she just wanted to stay in this place, in that feeling, forever. 

They pulled away, and awkwardly smiled and gestured before Peter finally held the cupcake back up to her. 

"Well, I guess you can wish for something else too?" he said. 

"I don't need anything else," she said, smiling at him. 

"Well, this candle isn't going to blow itself out, you know," Peter teased, and M.J. laughed at his response before blowing it out. 

"Happy birthday, M.J." Peter said, and as she stood there, smiling back at him, it was in that moment that she realized something: that maybe birthdays weren't so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you liked it! This was only my second time writing a whole story of some kind from M.J.'s perspective, and I really enjoyed it! There was so much I wanted to put in here though, so hopefully it's not overly stuffed. Honestly, I wished I could've included more. 
> 
> Anyway, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone; stay safe and healthy (physically and otherwise) during this crazy time. 
> 
> "I have become all things to all people..." 1 Corinthians 9:22-23


End file.
